Nationwide isn't that different from the high street banks after all

For years it has promoted itself as being 'proud to be different' from High Street banks by putting customers, and not profits, first. It has reinforced the message by using comedian Mark Benton in television adverts that contrast its homely mutual approach with the hard-nosed tactics of banking rivals.

But Nationwide, the country's biggest building society, stands accused of hypocrisy and acting just like a bank over its plans to pull out of Bagshot, Surrey, depriving villagers of their only bank or building society branch. Nationwide announced the closure of the branch at the beginning of the month by putting up a poster in the window, stating it would be closed on May 22.

The society claims that the branch is not making enough money and that it does not sell enough financial products to make it viable. But this does not wash with many villagers and traders who are furious over the decision. They believe by pulling out of Bagshot, the society is undermining the viability of the village as a place to do business.

The branch's closure will also inconvenience many Nationwide customers, especially the elderly and infirm, who will be required to travel to nearby towns such as Camberley or Bracknell to do their banking.

Make believe: Mark Benton as the hard-nosed face of banking in Nationwide's television adverts

Michael Gove, Conservative MP for Surrey Heath and Shadow Minister
for Children, Schools and Families, joined dozens of villagers when
they protested outside the doomed branch eight days ago.

A petition organised by the Bagshot Society, an organisation
representing the interests of villagers, has already attracted more
than 1,000 signatures.

Organising the fight to keep the branch open is Glyn Carpenter,
57-year-old chairwoman of the Bagshot Society and owner of The Village
Cafe.

'The closure does not make sense,' she says. 'Yes, the branch is
small with only three counters, but it's constantly busy and there are
always queues outside for the cash machine.

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'I bank at the branch every day, as do many other businesses in the
village. The branch provides a vital service to the people and
businesses of Bagshot and the nearby villages of Windlesham and
Lightwater. We can't afford to do without it.'

Carpenter plans to take a coachload of villagers to Nationwide's
headquarters in Swindon, Wiltshire, so they can hand in the petition to
Nationwide's boss, Graham Beale.

Village voice: Campaign leader Glyn Carpenter in her cafe

Gove is also putting pressure on Beale - he has written to the chief
executive saying the closure will 'deprive Bagshot's older and poorer
residents of a safe and accessible place to conduct banking
transactions'. He says the proximity of other Nationwide branches
should not be an excuse for the society to withdraw from Bagshot.

'The suggestion that those who have accounts in the Bagshot branch
transact their business in Camberley, Bracknell or Crowthorne is sadly
not an option for all too many,' he says.

'The distances involved and lack of public transport leave the most vulnerable customers worst off.'

Derek French of the Campaign for Community Banking says it is 'rare'
for Nationwide to be involved in 'last bank in town closures' - 98 per
cent of such moves involve Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds or Royal Bank of
Scotland- he says Nationwide should allow the premises to be used as a
shared branch - where the banks provide facilities under one roof.

'It would attract positive publicity at little or no cost and could
well prove to be the tipping point for action by the banking industry,'
he says. To date, banks have been reluctant to share branches.

Nationwide says it has not taken the decision to close the Bagshot
branch lightly, but that low sales, combined with the proximity of
other Nationwide branches, make the decision inevitable.

But it says it would entertain the setting up of an agency in
Bagshot --the offering of limited Nationwide services in an existing
business - if a business could be found that 'met all the compliance
and security issues'.

A Nationwide employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told
Financial Mail last week that the mutual under Graham Beale, who was
appointed two years ago, had undergone a 'sea change' with branch staff
under growing pressure to sell more financial products.